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Luis Saez Returns To Partner Maximum Security In Saturday’s Awesome Again

Luis Saez returns on Maximum Security in Saturday's Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, Bob Baffert confirmed via text. The Awesome Again is a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic, to be held at Keeneland the first weekend of November.

Saez, a 28-year-old native of Panama City, has ridden the four-year-old son of New Year's Day in seven of his 12 career races, crossing the wire first six times and second in the Pegasus at Monmouth in June 2019.

Abel Cedillo had ridden Maximum Security in his last two races, winning both, the San Diego Handicap and the Grade I Pacific Classic.

Maximum Security was disqualified from victory two times with Saez aboard, first in the Saudi Cup Feb. 29 after which Saudi officials withheld distribution of $20 million in purse money pending investigation of his trainer at that time, Jason Servis, and others in the United States. The bay colt also was disqualified from first for a riding infraction at the top of the stretch in last year's Kentucky Derby.

Saez also will ride the maiden Spielberg in the American Pharoah Stakes for Baffert. Saez is fourth nationally in purse earnings this year with more than $10 million and second to Irad Ortiz Jr. in victories, 234 to 202.

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Vanderbilt Winner Volatile Injured; Retired to Three Chimneys

Saratoga’s GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. winner Volatile (Violence-Melody Lady, by Unbridled’s Song) has been injured with a hairline fracture of his right front cannon bone and has been retired. He will stand the 2021 season at Three Chimneys in Central Kentucky.

While competing for the partnership of Three Chimneys Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbreds, Volatile was undefeated in three starts in 2020. In addition to his Vanderbilt win July 25, in which he clocked a final quarter in :22.94, the fastest in the race’s history, the gray also captured Churchill’s Aristides S. by eight lengths in June and an allowance/optional claimer by 7 1/2 lengths in April at Oaklawn. The Steve Asmussen trainee retires with a record of 6-5-1-0 and earnings of $341,040. He got a Beyer Speed Figure of 112 in the Aristides, the highest on record for 2020.

“He reminds me very much of Mitole [Eskendereya] in his championship season,” said Asmussen. “Volatile is as fast as any horse I have ever trained. His brilliant performances this year would have made him the likely favorite for the [GI] Breeders’ Cup Sprint and a tough horse to beat. I trained his mother and his grandmother, the incredible Lady Tak [Mutakddim], who won multiple Grade I races for us. You will not find a better looking individual than Volatile, nor one with as much speed and raw talent.”

Volatile was his sire’s most expensive yearling sold at public auction when hammered down for $850,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale.

“Volatile is a beautiful horse that breeders will like when they see him,” said Three Chimneys owner Goncalo Torrealba. “He exudes class and is a great physical. He was brilliant and that is what can make a stallion special. Three Chimneys will proudly support him with plenty of quality mares, I can guarantee that.”

A stud fee for Volatile will be announced at a later date.

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Temming Suspended 20 Years By New York Commission For Blood Doping Positives

The New York State Gaming Commission announced a unanimous decision Monday to uphold a hearing officer's recommendation to suspend harness trainer Michael Temming for 20 years after two of his horses tested positive for a blood doping agent.

Temming was summarily suspended after the findings were announced in January of this year, and his hearing was continued at his request until July.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International announced on Jan. 23, 2020 that Temming trainees had tested positive post-race for IOX-2, a stabilizer of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), which is known as a blood and gene doping agent capable of stimulating effects similar to EPO as well as overall physical stimulation of the user.

Temming-trained Sports Bettor who ran in Yonkers Race 4 Dec. 7, 2019 and Showmeyourguns (Yonkers Race 7 Dec. 17, 2019) both tested positive for IOX-2, and Temming was later found to have purchased “a large quantity” of the drug. Both horses were disqualified and officially unplaced in those races. Their purses will be reallocated to the remainder of the field.

Read more about the IOX-2 findings here.

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No Changes At The Top of NTRA Thoroughbred Racing Polls

A quiet weekend in both the handicap and sophomore ranks resulted in relatively little movement in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll and NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll.

Champion Maximum Security continues to head up the Top Thoroughbred Poll ahead of his expected run in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita Park on September 26. The 4-year-old son of New Year's Day earned 26 first-place votes and 349 points this week and will bring a six-race win streak into Saturday's Awesome Again.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Vekoma remains in second with 9 first-place votes and 272 points followed by fellow top-level victor Tom's d'Etat (3 first-place votes, 240 points) in third.

Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, holds in fourth with 209 points while Grade 1 winner Improbable (193 points) ranks fifth. By My Standards, who captured the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, remains sixth with 159 points followed by champion Midnight Bisou (153 points) and Tiz the Law (134). Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (122 points) and multiple Grade 1 winner Rushing Fall (85) round out the top 10.

Authentic looms a potential favorite for the October 3 Preakness Stakes on the heels of his gate-to-wire triumph in the 10-furlong classic. The son of Into Mischief garnered 23 first-place votes and 365 points to once again lead the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and recently returned the worktab with a bullet five-furlong breeze at Churchill Downs on September 19.

Belmont and Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law ranks second with 15 first-place votes and 357 points. The son of Constitution remains under consideration for the Preakness Stakes but has not posted a workout since finishing as the runner-up behind Authentic in the September 5 Kentucky Derby.

Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector is confirmed to be Preakness bound and remains third with 272 points. Grade 1 winner Honor A. P., who was retired to stand stud at Lane's End Farm last week, is fourth with 191 points followed by Kentucky Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver (161 points) and
Thousand Words (146).

Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil sits seventh with 107 points, ahead of beaten Oaks favorite Gamine (90 points). Max Player (83 points) and King Guillermo (74) complete the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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